Experts, including HIAS President and CEO Mark Hetfield, discuss the role faith-based organizations have taken during the refugee crisis and the challenges of aiding and resettling refugees in the United States and abroad.

Ahead of two momentous summits on the global refugee crisis, HIAS CEO and Pres Mark Hetfield and VP of Policy and Advocacy Melanie Nezer briefed foreign press at the New York Foreign Press Center of the U.S. Dept. of State.

Before he became Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the Department of Homeland Security, León Rodríguez was the grandchild of Jews who fled anti-semitism in Poland and Turkey. “At the end of the day, refugees and refugee families are just like us, except in much more difficult situations,” Rodríguez says in an exclusive video interview.

The Holocaust survivors in the Righteous Conversations Project are very aware of the experience of the refugee and those who seek asylum and rescue from murderous regimes. For them, this is more than a problem that is unfolding on the other side of the planet. It is a story with kinship to their own. Recently, Los Angeles area high school students and Holocaust survivors teamed up to make a series of video public service announcements.

Forty four refugee children, all currently receiving therapy from HIAS’ trained staff, enjoyed a day out in Kampala, Uganda. “It’s an opportunity for the children to feel welcomed, loved and accepted in this world. It’s an opportunity to rekindle their hope," said Timothy Mukua, psychosocial program manager at HIAS Uganda.